


The Sound of Heartache

by thesalukihusker



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 13:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20115526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesalukihusker/pseuds/thesalukihusker
Summary: It began to rain as the Byers family crossed the state line. It’s appropriate, Jonathan thinks.





	The Sound of Heartache

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: this is a follow-up to my first fic. Jonathan’s perspective. Post-season 3. I promise my third attempt at fanfic will be something happier. We’re gonna pretend that Jonathan hadn’t yet bought Dire Straits' smash 1985 album Brothers in Arms.

It began to rain as the Byers family crossed the state line.

It’s appropriate, Jonathan thinks. There have been enough tears, enough sadness in the past few days to last a lifetime. The move was unexpected; however, given the events that haunted them in Hawkins for so long, it wasn’t entirely a surprise. But for Jonathan, it felt as though he'd been kicked in the gut. He stayed strong, for his mom, for his brother, and for himself. It wasn’t easy, leaving behind everything that had shaped his life so far.

They arrived late last night, tired and with so much to do. They slept in sleeping bags in their new rooms, the windows open, letting in the air of a cool October night. Jonathan didn’t sleep much. It’s hard to sleep alone when he could be sleeping curled up with Nancy. Nancy. Smart, beautiful, fearless Nancy, who fought monsters with him and helped save his brother. And then stood with him, hand-in-hand, and promised they would face it all together. She told him that she loved him, one rainy night, and he’d never felt so alive. She saved him. And now here he was, in the dark, without her. It hurts.

###

Jonathan made breakfast as usual the next morning, and they got to work unpacking. His bed is set up in one corner of the room, his desk in another. Jonathan shuffles through his records, making sure everything arrived to their new home. And that’s when he found something that stops his heart for a second.

Brothers in Arms. 

Where did this come from? Jonathan wanted the album since the day it was released, but hadn’t yet had a chance to buy it. He takes the record from its sleeve, and a note falls out. Jonathan didn’t have to guess who it was from.

"Dear Jonathan,

I’m having a hard time putting in to words everything that I’m feeling right now. It’s almost moving day, and although I know I’ll see you in a couple of months, it feels like forever.

This time together, these memories we’ve made, are playing over and over in my mind. Murray Bauman read me like a book. I didn’t want to admit it. That night in his bunker was what I had wanted for so long. We faced the end of the world, we escaped the monsters at the hospital and in the mall. We broke open a story that no one wanted told. We saved Will, together. And we emerged from the other side hand-in-hand, knowing that we could do anything if we had each other. And I’ve never felt more alive, more like myself. It’s made me so happy to make you happy.

I stopped at the record store the other day, the one you used to work at. I know you’ve wanted this album. I wish I was there, listening to it with you. My heart hurts. December can’t come soon enough.

I love you so, Jonathan Byers. Give my love to your mom and Will.

Always,  
Nancy"

###

Jonathan lets out the breath he’s been holding since he found Nancy’s note. He walks to the record player, fighting back tears. As he starts unpacking his final boxes, Jonathan hears the first notes of So Far Away. So far away. Nancy is so far away from this new home of his.

So many days until December. Until she’s in his arms again. Jonathan lies down on his bed, looking at the photo on his nightstand of he and Nancy at prom. He cries. He waits.


End file.
